Sneeze (video game)

Sneeze
Screenshot of Sneeze
Developer(s)Oil Productions / Player 3
Publisher(s)Channel 4 / Wellcome Trust
Release2009
Mode(s)Single-player

Sneeze is a 2009 browser game created in Adobe Flash. In every level, the player can sneeze only once and is awarded points based on how many people they are able to infect.

Sneeze was commissioned by the Wellcome Trust and Channel 4 to subversively teach children the importance of healthy practices. During the 2009 swine flu pandemic, inspired Flash games became prevalent, and Miniclip rebranded the game Stop Swine Flu to draw attention to it. It soon reached the Top 10 on their website. Some journalists considered games based on the swine flu to be in poor taste. In particular, Donald G. McNeil Jr. of The New York Times questioned the awarding of bonus points for infecting children and the elderly.[1]

  1. ^ McNeil, Donald G. Jr. (5 May 2009). "To Score High, Don't Cover Your Mouth". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2023.